The Australian Democrats have called for the Federal Government to open up Australia as a temporary haven for the survivors of last week's devastating tsunami in Asia. Democrats leader Lyn Allison says the Government should provide temporary protection for people from communities where housing and infrastructure have been completely destroyed. Senator Allison says five years ago several hundred Kosovo Albanian refugees were granted temporary visas in Australia after the long-running Balkans conflict flared again. She says the tsunami disaster should prompt similar support from the Commonwealth. "We're suggesting perhaps adopting a village and opening up our doors to families who've got no shelter at the present time in the same way that we did during the Balkans crisis," she said. "We're also suggesting that visas could be extended to those people from these regions who happen to be visiting Australia at present and perhaps offered to those who've got immediate family in this country as well."
A Darwin man who has lost up 10 members of his family in western Sumatra has issued a similar plea, appealing for the Government to grant temporary visas for his remaining relatives. Khairul Syah has been told the bodies of his nephew and niece have been found at the devastated village of Meulaboh. Eight other family members are missing and presumed dead. Mr Syah says he wants to bring his surviving family members to Darwin. "I want the Australia Government to [allow] my sister and my brother and their son ... [to] come to Darwin for the moment because he doesn't have a house," he said. |